


The Blood of Sinners

by lydia_rogue



Category: RWBY
Genre: Amputation, Assault, CFVY, F/M, Faunus!Fox, Happy Ending, Kidnapping, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Racism, Rated For Violence, They aren't huntsmen - AU, blind!Fox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 19:09:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6296512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydia_rogue/pseuds/lydia_rogue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was just another Faunus caught in the wrong place at the wrong time like so many others. There was nothing different about him - from his point of view. But Fox was best friends with the heiress of Adel Enterprises, and that made him different as far as Coco's enemies were concerned. And as the only board member at Adel who advocated for Faunus rights, she made a lot of enemies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Fox wiped a hand over his bleeding lip, then licked it a few seconds later, grimacing at the fresh taste of copper. It would scab over soon and be gone by morning. The side of his face felt tender as well; he'd probably end up with a black eye.

He made his way home, taking the route with fewer people this time. No one ever stopped an assault on a Faunus - people were far more likely to join in than interfere.

He kept his head down and tried to not think about what they said. " _Date your own kind, animal_ ," and " _She deserves better than you._ " There was no doubt in his mind who "she" was referring to - Coco was his best friend as well as heiress to Adel Enterprises. Every bigot in town had some snide remark about their friendship, it just didn't usually escalate to violence. Usually.

He wrapped his tail around him for warmth and a sense of security as he made his way back home. He'd be fine before Coco saw him and she'd never suspect a thing.

He stumbled around his apartment a bit, finding his freezer more from memory than what he could feel out with his aura, pulling out an ice pack to press against his eye.

It wouldn't do a lot in the long run - his aura would be back up to snuff by tomorrow and it wouldn't make a difference if his eye swelled shut - but for now it felt good.

With his aura depleted and his mind elsewhere, he had no warning before Coco slammed into the apartment, jumping at the sound.

"I can't believe I work with such assholes!" He heard the thump of her bag and shoes in the entryway. He slouched back against the couch with a sigh. So much for not telling her he'd been assaulted again.

"It's only cheaper to partner with Schnee for our Dust because they refuse to pay their Faunus workers decent wages. 'They pay them what's fair.' Bullshit, father, you wouldn't know what's fair if it bit you in the ass. You and and the rest of the board are just as bad as they are, you discriminatory... racist... bastards?"

Fox couldn't tell exactly where Coco was, but he could tell when she saw him based on the way her voice trailed off. He pulled the ice pack away from his eye so she could examine the damage. "Hi Coco. Bad day?"

"Do not 'bad day' me," she snapped. "I'm clearly not the one who's had a 'bad day.' Really, Fox?" Her hands were gentle when they cupped his face, turning it this way and that. He jumped regardless, not having felt her move. "Did I hurt you?" Her touch became even gentler.

"No." He licked his lips. "Aura's drained, didn't feel you move."

She sighed and lifted his hand with the ice back to his black eye. "Who did this?"

Telling her the truth crossed his mind, but Coco had a self-sacrificing streak too broad for her own good. _"Bigots who thought I was dating you"_ would only end in him losing his best friend. Plus it wasn't the whole truth. In reality they would attack him regardless of manufactured excuse. "Dunno, it just happens," he said with a shrug and a sigh.

But that wasn't the right thing to say either. "It shouldn't! It shouldn't be a thing that just 'happens.'" He heard her pace the length of the living room and back, steps muted without her heels. "Did you go to the police?"

The laughter that bubbled up unexpectedly reopened his split lip. "Let me call them up. Should I call the one who tried to arrest me for 'harassing' you last week or the one I heard walk by when I was getting the shit kicked out of me earlier?" It was harsher than he'd meant, but he refused to take the words back. Her endless pacing paused in front of him, and her gentle hands returned to turn his face up towards hers for a moment.

"You're bleeding again." She walked to the kitchen and fumbled around, running water for a moment before coming back to press a wet cloth to his lip. "You're right, I'm sorry. I know you can't go to the police. But I don't want you to sit here alone when it happens. You can always call me." She pulled the cloth away to check on the bleeding before pressing it against the cut once more. "You know, that, right?"

He closed his eyes and took the cloth from her. "Yeah, I know." He resettled on the couch, legs tucked under him with his tail stretched out next to him. "Tell me about your day?"

She accepted the change of subject, settling down next to him and petting his tail, giving them both a token amount of comfort. Neither of them commented on how flat her voice sounded compared to when she walked in the door.

"It all just seems so hopeless. Even if - and that's a big if - I convince them to drop the deal with the Schnee Dust Company, it's just one deal. They'll be back next year - they always are - and we're just one company. It's not actually going to change how Schnee does business and it's not going to change their minds about Faunus labor in the factories."

The tip of his tail twitched and he lowered the cloth and ice pack to his lap. "It means something. You can only do so much, but what you do does matter. Change is slow."

"If everyone says 'I'm just one person' nothing ever changes. Yeah, I know." Coco stood and took the cloth and ice pack back to the kitchen. "I'm just starting to wonder if I can't do more good elsewhere. Maybe start my own business. I've got the savings to do it."

Fox caught her hand and tugged her down so she was curled up against his side. "You could always come live here. It's not like you don't pay rent."

But she didn't laugh and tease like she normally did. "You wouldn't mind, would you?" Her voice was hollow and distant.

"Of course not, Coco." He reached out and took her hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

It was more than just a joke; she did pay half of the rent on this place for a room of her own when she needed to get away from her family or for her one-night-stands she didn't want the board of directors knowing about.

"You're always welcome here," he reassured her, wrapping his tail around her.

"Thanks, Fox. I appreciate it."

* * *

He never told Coco what they said when they jumped him, even as the attacks increased in frequency.

Fox simply took the beating and dragged himself home to patch up.

Coco started staying at his place more - but he wasn't sure if it was because he kept getting mugged or because she was actually moving out of her parents' place.

"Fox." She stopped him at the door, checking for new wounds or a drained aura. Even on days she didn't stay the night she was here when he got home.

"They didn't get me this time," he reassured her, kicking off his shoes.

She laid a hand on his cheek though and he licked his lips. He could feel the scar with his tongue; he'd hoped it wasn't visible but…

"You _scarred_."

He pulled away from her hand. "Just leave it."

"Fox. You have a scar. What aren't you telling me?"

He could hear her unasked questions.

_What's affected you so badly that your soul is scarred?_

_What's really happening?_

_Why won't you talk to me?_

_Why are you pulling away from me?_

_What did I do?_

He ran a finger over the ridge that ran across both lips on the right side. The man a few nights before had had a ring.

" _Disgusting animal._ "

Their words wore at him.

" _Leave her alone._ "

Leaving bruises that didn't fade.

" _She's not really your friend._ "

Leaving scars he couldn't heal.

" _Leave her alone. She shouldn't be making business decisions based on what an animal thinks._ "

He pulled away, moving deeper into the apartment, back towards his friend. "It's just wearing on me." It wasn't a complete lie. He teared up, unwilling to tell her what they were saying. "Just… please. Drop it."

"It's me, isn't it?" she asked, voice cracking. "It's because you're seen with a human woman."

He didn't respond. He couldn't lie outright and it was too close to the truth for him to refute - even if he was beginning to suspect it was more than just that.

"Oh, Fox." She wrapped his arms around him from behind in a fierce hug. "Were you afraid I'd leave?"

He pulled out of her arms and turned towards her. "It's not... no, but I was afraid you'd do something stupid and I'm not worth it." He wasn't worth the lives that would be ruined by the partnership with Schnee Dust Company.

She inhaled sharply to respond. "No. They will always find a reason. It's just an excuse."

"I'm just an excuse to assault you," she said, voice thick with rage.

"Coco, even if you weren't around me, they'd do it anyway. Please, just drop it."

"I'll try," she said tracing the scar with her finger. "But I don't know that I can. Not when it's affected you like this."

* * *

The figures closing in around him had become routine at this point. He had tried fighting it before, but it didn't help. There were too many of them for him to fight back even when he was at full strength. Lately his aura struggled to replenish by the next day, leaving him lethargic and prone to bruises.

There was something different this time. They didn't snap at him or try to bring him down with their words - they were silent as they herded him into an alleyway before grabbing him by the back of the neck and throwing him to the ground.

A steel-toed boot to the gut caused him to fall to the ground, aura cracking and failing already, scraping up his palms.

He didn't try to get up, curling up with his tail between his legs. A bruising kick to his kidney caused him to cry out in pain.

This was when they usually left, mocking him and laughing as they walked away, but this time was different.

They didn't leave.

Hands found his wrists, wrenching them behind his back to be replaced with ropes too tight and too rough.

The rumble of a car.

They slid a sack over his head - they couldn't take away his sight but they could make him anonymous. (Not that anyone ever intervened.)

The slide of a door.

He was lifted up, hands around his arms that held him tight as they forced him to walk forward, shoving him into a vehicle and climbing in behind him.

The door slammed shut and the car started with a dull roar.

Only then did Fox think to yell - not that it did him any good. They just took the hood off and shoved a makeshift gag in his mouth, still speeding away from the alley they'd taken him from.

* * *

Coco paced up and down the street, calling Fox's scroll yet again - only to have it go to voicemail for the sixth time that day.

"Just… please let me know you're okay," she managed before hanging up.

Fox hadn't come home the night before. At first she hadn't worried. Coco had spent more than one night out on the town only to go home with a stranger, seeking out comfort in their arms before going home the next morning and never calling them back.

But now it was past noon on a Saturday and she was walking into their favorite coffee shop - and there was no sign of Fox anywhere.

He wasn't picking up his scroll - last night it had rung a few times before going to voicemail, now it just immediately directed her to leave a message.

She got her usual black coffee to-go and wandered the path between the university and his apartment, walking into all the dark alleys trying to find -

She refused to think "body."

But she wasn't finding any sign of him - no scroll, no sign of a struggle - nothing.

The police station was the next logical step.

"I'd like to report a missing person," she had said when she walked up to the front desk at the station. She was directed to the back, past a handful of police officers taking a report about another Dust shop robbery from a very tall human and a rabbit Faunus.

Coco settled down across from a dark-skinned human woman with a buzzcut and a love for the gym. "Hello. I'm Officer Jade Ward and I'll just need some information from you to get started on this missing person report."

She smiled and sat down. "Of course, anything you need."

"We'll need the basics - name, age, last seen, general description or a photo if you have one as well as your information."

"His name is Fox Alistair, he's 22. I last saw him… Yesterday morning, before he left for class and then work. I last heard from him when he messaged me saying he was heading back around six? It was just after dark."

She started to scribble down notes based on what Coco was telling her. "And you've not heard anything since?"

"No, his scroll just goes straight to voicemail." She pulled out her own. "My name is Coco Adel, let me get you a picture and my number." She thumbed through her photos before landing on a recent one.

She passed over the device. "That's Fox, he is completely blind so anything you can do to help…"

The smile slipped off Jade's face and she set down the pen she was using. "It's a bit early to be filing a missing person report. Usually we recommend waiting 48 to 72 hours when an adult has gone missing."

"He's also disabled, though," Coco said, sitting back and peering over her sunglasses at the officer. The sudden change in the officer's demeanor threw her for a loop. "And he's never done something like this before - in the five years I've known him he's never once missed our Saturday coffee date."

But the officer just let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, let me get your information and if you haven't contacted us to cancel it, I'll file the report first thing Monday morning, but that's the most I can do."

Coco left her contact information and left the station in a daze. She wasn't stupid - it was clear the officer had stopped caring the moment she realized Fox was a Faunus. 

Unthinkingly, she found herself walking to Fox's favorite noodle house and ordering their favorite foods. It was something she always did when he was having a bad day.

Tonight it tasted like cardboard.

* * *

There was something sinister about the sound of a knife being sharpened. Even when he was touching up his kitchen knives, the rhythmic scrape of metal on metal had always caused his hackles to rise but this time was a thousand times worse.

He strained against the shackles binding his wrists, all four ears twitching at the sound. He cringed away, backing up along the wall as far as the chains would allow.

"So here's the deal, foxy boy." The deep, rough voice was too calm and measured, sending his heart rate through the roof.

"Your good friend, Coco? See, we need her signature on a partnership we're trying to finalize and she doesn't want to sign. We figure you would give her ample reason to change her mind."

"She's not going to change her mind."

"Yeah, well, we figured that out a while ago. You're both just too stubborn. Since she still seems to think that animal rights have a place in her business decisions, we'll just have to show her that there's a cost."

 _Is that what they'd been doing for the last two days?_ The constant strain on his aura meant the taste of blood never really left his mouth and there were a number of slow-healing wounds on his arms and side. He'd long lost his ability to sense people and objects with his aura, having to rely on his hearing alone.

"I won't help you."

"Well, you will, maybe not directly, but I kind of figure if we start cutting off pieces of you and shipping them to her, she might change her mind."

Fox scrambled away as best he could, not moving far - or fast - before hitting the end of the chains. "No, please."

A hand clamped down near the base of his tail, dragging him back as he clawed at the concrete floor.

"You can beg if you want, but it's not going to change anything."

Fox screamed instead.

* * *

Coco had had maybe ten hours of sleep since Saturday. The Thursday morning board meeting she was trapped in was dragging on for far too long. Not even the four cups of coffee were helping and the exhaustion was making her notes swim before her eyes.

Every objection she brought up was shot down efficiently - ruthlessly. They weren't even pretending to listen anymore. It was their third meeting in as many days trying to get an approval on the Schnee Dust Company partnership proposal.

But the proposal was only going to be approved if her department signed off on it, and she dug her heels in, refusing to sign it. Small Labels rarely had so much impact on a decision, but as the department most affected by the proposal, she had to sign off on it as the vice president.

Instead, she stalled, waiting for a better offer, even as the other members of the board cornered her on breaks, sent endless emails and threatened to get her fired if she didn't sign.

Today it was Robin's turn to try and convince her into signing. He was a sleazy looking bastard, somehow looking more like a mafia member than a vice president of one of the most well-known corporations in Remnant.

"What do you want, Robin?" she demanded when he followed her to her office. "I've had a long couple of days and I don't want to talk about your Grimm scat proposal."

"I heard about your friend - Fox, was it?" Robin's smile was more of a sneer and the predatory look in his eyes said a lot more than his words. "It's a shame, really. I do hope they find him soon, before anything unfortunate happens to him."

She normally didn't have to play dirty in corporate politics. Adel was a name that carried enough weight that most people didn't dare touch her - but Fox didn't have that protection. Robin probably knew something about his disappearance. Her blood ran cold at the thought.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

"Put your name on the proposal to partner with Schnee Dust Company, to start," he whispered back, "and I'll help you find your friend."

 _But at what cost?_ she asked herself as he walked away with a smug swagger.

She went to her desk and pulled out the proposal.

After the sixth read-through of the contract, she'd gone to the restroom because she thought she was going to puke. It wasn't an acceptable place to 'start.'

Coco couldn't do it. She couldn't sign off on it. The proposal with the Schnee Dust Company was one of the most abhorrent she'd ever seen.

From a business perspective, it made sense. All of their brands would source Dust from the Schnees, giving them access to deeper discounts by buying their Dust in bulk.

But Coco knew that several of their smaller brands - some of the local boutiques and designers she'd helped acquire - kept smaller Dust shops afloat.

"I am so sorry, Fox. Please forgive me," she whispered, feeding the proposal into the shredder one page at a time.

The worst part was he would.

 _I'm just one Faunus,_ he would always say, valuing the greater population over his own safety. He wouldn't care about the personal consequences.

She just had to find him before anything "unfortunate" actually happened.

Step one was to remove herself from the equation. 

The room was sparsely decorated to begin with, looking more corporate as she made a pile of her personal belongings.

A framed photo of her and Fox, carefully turned away from any visitors.

A pressed flower - foxglove, a gift from Fox along with a pair of gloves she never really took off. 

A daily calendar that hadn't been changed since the Friday before.

A potted plant.

She took nothing else - not even a box to carry it in - walking away with her resignation letter pinned to the door.

Resigning would only delay the proposal, but the blood wouldn't be on her hands.

Two hours after she'd left, someone from a private courier company brought an elegantly wrapped box to her office. It was long and thin, like something a bouquet of flowers would come in.

Robin signed for it.

* * *

Without her position at Adel to hold her back, Coco threw herself into finding Fox. She promised herself one week of focusing on that before she had to slow down and try and start her own company like she'd always talked about. He wouldn't have wanted her to throw her life away on him - or so she kept telling herself as her self-imposed deadline drew closer.

She worked on missing person posters, ducking into every shop she could find that wasn't blatantly anti-Faunus to have them hung up.

"Welcome to the Dust Bunny! Let me know if there's anything I can help you with." The human behind the counter smiled at her and Coco tried to return it. This was the sixth shop she'd been to in the last hour. While she'd wrangled a few of her posters into them, some turned her down when they discovered it wasn't a missing _human_ she was looking for.

She approached the counter, looking up at the man behind it. His height and cropped-short hair made her think "club bouncer" more than Dust shop worker, but it was probably needed around here. It wasn't the gentlest part of town. At a foot taller than her, he no doubt had to work at not being intimidating. "I was wondering if I could hang a missing person poster in your shop."

"Of course. We can hang it on a window if you'd like." Shop owners rarely said no to that.

"It'd have to be facing inwards. He's blind and I added my information in Braille so he could read it," she countered.

"Of course. Whatever you think is best. We can stack a few by the register too, if you want." He put his hand out to take a poster.

Coco pulled back and pushed her sunglasses to the to the top of her head, swiping at her eyes where tears were welling up again. "He's a Faunus," she said bluntly. She was tired of dancing around the subject or being rejected when they saw his vulpine traits. Worse was when she would walk out, only to look back and see them throwing the poster away.

Something changed in the man's expression. His smile didn't fade exactly, just softened, hand still extended. "We'll make sure it's not vandalized."

Coco nodded and handed him a few copies of the poster, wiping tears off her cheeks. He pointedly looked down, giving her a moment of privacy. "Thank you," she said as she left. She kept her eyes on the road ahead of her, so she missed the rabbit Faunus who emerged from the back room.

* * *

"The headquarters of Adel Enterprises caught fire today. While they were able to get the fire under control quickly, there was significant damage to the interior along with several employees sustaining minor injuries." Lisa Lavender was reporting on the radio in the other room. "Authorities are asking that anyone with information about this attack to please come forward. Additionally, they are still looking for information about the protests at Adel that turned violent last week when the White Fang arrived and have suggested the two incidents may be related."

Coco's hands stilled, halfway through adding Braille to another poster.

"Ms. Adel?"

Her attention snapped back to the police officer sitting across the kitchen table from her.

"I'm sorry, what was the question?"

He smiled. "Was Fox involved in the White Fang at all? We found some evidence of a Faunus' involvement at the fire at Adel Enterprises and we have reason to believe it may be related to Mr. Alistair's disappearance."

 _Of course._ She closed her eyes briefly, asking the Maidens for patience, and stood, taking the two coffee mugs the officers were using. "I have been asking you to look into his disappearance for weeks and you've been telling me you're too busy for this or can't possibly find the time." She dumped the contents of both mugs down the sink and left them on the counter, gripping it tight enough her aura flared before turning back to face them. "But now my family is putting pressure on you to find out what happened to their employees and you're asking me about my missing friend?" Coco stood up straighter, looking down her nose at them, and gestured to the door. "I think you can talk to my lawyer instead."

After they took their leave, she slumped at the kitchen table. The posters and braille slate were still there and she swiped her arm across the table, sending them flying to the ground.

One of the posters caught her hand wrong, leaving behind a stinging paper cut.

She stared at it in confusion, her aura refusing to heal the small stripe of red on the side of her finger.

Poking at it caused blood to well up and run down her hand.

She stared at it, then started to worry at the wound with her fingernail until blood dripped to the table.

* * *

Fox curled up against the cold brick wall of the warehouse. They'd let him go. "We don't need you anymore," they'd said.

He accepted his death in that moment, head hung and shoulders slumped. He was going to die cold and alone in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

"She's stopped fighting for rights for you animals."

His head snapped up, jaw going slack. "No, she wouldn't," he whispered - prayed.

"The proposal with Schnee Dust company went through - they're exclusive partners now."

"Coco never would have signed off on that." But he wasn't sure now. A tail and two ears probably did a lot to change her mind and it infuriated him. He'd rather die than have her go against her own principles like that.

But then the familiar sounds of Lisa Lavender filled the room, calmly reporting on the new partnership between the two companies.

He took a deep breath, wanting to protest further, but the chains binding him rattled as the shackles were unlocked. There was nothing more to say. He'd played his part and they didn't need him any more.

"You're free to go."

He stumbled to his feet, off balance. Instinctively he reached for his tail, the twitch of phantom muscles feeling familiar yet distant.

"Here." The deep, gruff voice shoved a backpack at him. "Clothes. Food." he could hear them walk away, but he had neither the strength nor desire to track them.

Instead he knelt and pawed through the bag, switching into the clean stuff and leaving his grimy old clothes behind, wincing as the rough cloth caught on the remains of his ears and the jeans bumped against the stub of his tail.

He growled and felt his way out of the building, one hand guiding him along the wall. He didn't usually use a cane, but his aura was drained beyond use for helping him navigate.

He had plenty of time, though. He didn't have anywhere to go anytime soon.

Coco had clearly made her choice. He spat on the ground in disgust.

He would rather have died a thousand deaths than have her sign it, and she gave it up for a couple of severed body parts.

Slumping against the wall, he contemplated home. He probably didn't have one any more - it had definitely been more than a month since he'd gone missing. No home, no job.

No friends.

"Hey mister, are you okay?"

He tilted his head at the voice. Young, feminine and he didn't sense any Faunus nearby so no doubt human.

"Not really," he admitted.

"Do you need help? A hospital, or shelter, maybe?"

He sat up a bit. "Could you help me find a shelter?" He hated asking for help, but it shouldn't be that dangerous to ask for that kind of help. There were several shelters he knew of - he just wasn't sure where they were.

"Sure, I can take you there if you want. It's not far."

He stood stretching a little and trying to understand what this woman's motivation was. "I'm not used to people being so nice to me."

"Well, we should look after our own!" Her voice was earnest, chipper. "It's a shame how people would ignore you - you're not one of the Faunus vagrants around."

He froze at her words and the woman stopped a few steps later. "Oh, don't worry," she said, voice still cheerful. "It's a human-only shelter, you'll be fine!"

He shook his head, backing up two steps before turning and hurrying away as fast as he could.

Did he really look _human_ now? He reached up, running his fingers through his hair. He couldn't suppress the shudder when he found the sensitive stubs of his ears or when his hand got caught in the knots caused by the blood - it was a miracle she'd stopped to talk to him. As far as he could tell, his hair had just grown out long enough to cover the remains of his ears.

Now he looked human.

* * *

"You can stay the night, but…"

Fox sighed.

"I'm sorry." The woman behind the counter shuffled a few papers around. "A few people are already giving you looks. We couldn't ensure your safety. You know how hard it can be for someone to identify a lone human in a group of Faunus. We can put you up for the night, give you some supplies. We have a few safe places you could stay during the day that have showers and a hot meal, but there just aren't mixed shelters anymore."

It was the same response at all the Faunus shelters. He couldn't really blame them - Faunus-only areas were getting hard to find and people wanted to protect what little they had.

At least they hadn't suggested trying a human shelter "Since you look human anyway."

(He'd declined any help from that shelter, sleeping on the streets that night.)

Now the nights were getting colder, and he didn't have anywhere to go.

Finding Coco came to mind again, but he shook his head. It was hard to shake the instinct of running back to her. He wouldn't know where to find her - even if he wanted to.

He stumbled into the back of an alley - the cold was severe enough to nip at his aura. He could feel it as his fingers and toes would flare briefly, healing the first hints of frostbite.

 _I hope she's happy_ , he thought as he pulled the coat around him a little tighter and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

The police came by twice more before she actually sought out a lawyer. While she was technically still an Adel, news that her parents disowned her had been splashed across the tabloids for a week, and so her name didn't carry the weight it once did.

"I screwed up," she told the canine-eared lawyer sitting behind the desk in front of her. "My friend is missing and I went to the police and now they think he's White Fang." Her hands trembled around the coffee mug she held, barely stopping it from sloshing over the sides. She set it down and clasped her hands instead, willing them to still. 

But instead of helping calm her, it only made things worse. She could feel the scar that had been left there by the poster all those weeks ago. The reminder of her failures just made her tremble more. Violet reached across the desk and put a hand over Coco's. "Take a deep breath and start at the beginning."

Coco looked up at her and smiled for the first time in days and did just that, starting with the assaults and ending with the last time the police came knocking at her door, leaving nothing out.

What she didn't say was that she had carefully researched the lawyers in the area and Violet was the only one she thought would take the case.

"I don't have a lot - my parents disowned me when I walked out on them and I've been using my savings to start my own business. I don't even know what to expect at this point - I don't want to have found him only to have him arrested for something he didn't do."

"At this point there's not even really a case, but it's always good to know of someone you can trust if things do go south. I'm not going to charge you for a consultation like this. I'll draft a memo and get you a copy, but in reality with Fox still missing there's not much we can do. I'll also keep an eye out on the police blotter in case he's arrested and doesn't call you for some reason."

She also had failed to mention she had an alert on her scroll that told her whenever a Faunus was arrested. It went off a depressing number of times throughout the day.

"Thank you," Coco said.

"Though, I do have to ask if you'd be willing to help me with a case in exchange. If you're not willing that's okay too, it's not a requirement."

"What is it?"

Violet reached into her desk and pulled out a thick folder. "We're suing Adel Enterprises for labor law violations and we could use your testimony."

Her smile became a smirk. "What do you need?"

* * *

It took a moment for Velvet's eyes to adjust to the darkness in the alley. The light over the back door had been smashed the week before and she couldn't be bothered to fix it. The darkness gave her a leg up and Yatsu was too intimidating to worry about someone jumping him.

So she blinked until she could see and made her way to the dumpsters at the far end, keeping an eye out for any troublemakers.

Movement caught her eye on the ground by the wall, tucked into the darkest corner. At first she thought it was just a racoon scrounging for scraps, but as she came closer her ears twitched and her senses told her 'Faunus'.

She chucked the bag into the dumpster and knelt next to the figure that was curled up between the dumpster and the wall.

They were clearly trembling from the cold and damp, their head lolling to one side when she shook their shoulder, hair shifting to reveal a pair of... Maidens protect, were those ears?

She swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise. Those were definitely cropped ears peeking out from copper hair.

She shook their shoulder again. "Hey, please wake up." What if something was actually wrong? She felt for a pulse, relaxing when she found one.

"Come on, wake up. I promise you can come in and be warm," she said, startling back when white eyes met hers.

"Sorry. I'll go." His deep voice was rough, as if he'd had a sore throat.

"Hey, no, that's not what I meant. Did you want to come inside? It's getting cold out and we've got a perfectly serviceable couch."

He licked his lips, tongue darting over the scar that was there. "Faunus?"

"Yeah, I'm a Faunus too. My name's Velvet - Velvet Scarlatina." She frowned, studying his face. Something about it looked familiar, but she struggled to put her finger on what. "I have rabbit ears, see?" she moved a bit so that her shape was silhouetted better in case he was having troubles with the dark.

"I'm blind," he said, but reached up, as if to feel her ears. Velvet leaned down so that his hand found them. His touch was gentle as he ran his hand up one, then the other.

"Do you want to come up for dinner? We've got plenty to share," she offered, taking his hand to help him to his feet. "It'd be a lot warmer too. It's getting on towards winter."

He pulled himself up, clutching his backpack to his chest. "I'm Fox and that sounds... wonderful."

A blind Faunus named Fox.

Oh.

Oh no.

"What's easiest for you? Want my arm?" she asked, trying to figure out how to tell him about the missing person posters. The posters that had photos of him with a full set of vulpine ears and a tail.

"Please." He stood and put his hand on her arm, letting her lead the way.

She let them into the shop, navigating to the break room. "I think your friend has been looking for you. She came in a couple months ago, left posters. I can loan you my scroll if you want to call her."

"Who?" he asked, tilting his head.

"I wasn't there, but Yatsu said she was a young woman - human as far as he could tell. Short hair, taller than me - six foot or so. Wore sunglasses. Didn't catch her name."

Fox stumbled. "Yeah. Coco." He stopped walking and chewed on his bottom lip. "Been awhile since I called her friend, though."

"You don't want to call, then?" she confirmed.

His next silence was longer. "No."

"Okay. Let's go up to my apartment? My roommate, Yatsuhashi, was just finishing up dinner."

"Will he mind me?"

She laughed a little. "No, he'd be more offended if I left you there. Stairs here," she warned before they started to climb.

"Do you need to warn him?"

"He'll be fine. He's got a big heart." She squeezed his arm gently. 

He smiled. "Okay, if you're sure."

"Velvet?" The voice that rumbled through the room was deep and Fox shrank back, pulling away from her.

"It's okay. He's good people, I promise," Velvet whispered. "Human, but still actually cares."

"Is everything okay? I… oh. Hello."

"Yatsu, this is Fox. Fox, this is my roommate, Yatsuhashi. I invited him up for dinner."

Yatsuhashi opened his mouth to say something and Velvet shook her head sharply once, then again when he pulled his scroll out of his pocket.

'Later,' she mouthed.

"I don't mean to intrude, it's okay." Fox pulled away, reaching back towards the door.

"No, you're not intruding at all," Yatsuhashi said, causing Fox to stop in his tracks and tilt his head. "Our home is yours for as long as you need."

* * *

After dinner, Velvet made some flimsy excuse about checking something in the Dust Bunny and Yatsuhashi went with her.

Fox stayed upstairs, pacing out the apartment once, twice, three times before creeping over to the door down to their shop. It was cracked open just enough that if he strained, he could hear them talking.

"Yatsu, don't fight me on this." Fox pushed the door open just a little more, ignoring the tiny twinge of guilt at listening in on their conversation. Better safe than sorry.

"Velvet, she looked worried sick when she came in. Don't you think maybe she should at least know he's okay?"

There was a rustling of paper and then Velvet spoke. "You've seen the posters. Do I need to point out the differences between this photo and the man crashing on our couch?" He strained to hear the next part. "I know you'd want to know if I went missing and someone found me, Yatsu. But something happened to him - and I don't know that I'd want to come running back to you right away if something like that happened - and we're very close. I might want some time to heal."

"And if he changes his mind?"

"We've still got the one upstairs in our place - plus don't pretend you haven't had her number in your scroll since five minutes after she walked out of the shop."

He chuckled and even Fox had to smile a little at that. "Fair enough." There was more crumpling of paper and Fox retreated back to the couch.

Coco had put out missing person posters trying to find him.

He wasn't sure he understood why. Did she actually care if he came back?

She didn't care, not really.

She'd given up on fighting for Faunus rights.

She probably had never been his friend.

* * *

He woke with a scream, struggling against the blankets that had wrapped around him tightly during the night.

_I'm staying on the couch of a friend._

He took a deep breath, then another.

"Hey." Velvet's voice made him jump. "Was up getting some water, do you want some?"

He nodded, not sure he could find his voice and a few moments later Velvet was pressing a glass of water into his hand.

"You want me to stay?"

He nodded and moved over so she could sit on the couch with him.

"We own the Dust shop below," she said quietly. "Yatsu is such a dork. He's the one who talked me into naming the shop the Dust Bunny." She let out a laugh. "He shouldn't be allowed to name any children he has. We found a bunny once - he's horribly allergic to animals of all types - and he wanted to name it Velvet Junior."

He laughed a little, fiddling with the water glass in his hand. Her voice was soothing, helping ease the tension out of his body. 

"He's a good person. We've been friends since we were kids. He's been really supportive of me starting up the Dust Bunny. We had some issues at the start, of course. Any Faunus-run business has issues now, but Yatsu stuck with me, helped by being a human face."

Fox fumbled with the glass, setting it down on a nearby table. "I should go in the morning."

She laid a hand on his shoulder, a light touch at first before starting to rub his back. "You're not imposing. We have the space, we'd just need to clear out the third room we've been using for storage. But if you want to go, at least stick around for breakfast."

"I don't know where I'd go," he admitted in a whisper. "Shelters won't take me - I apparently look 'too human.'"

"You have a home here," Velvet said, wrapping her arm around him.

"You don't even know me."

She shrugged and he leaned into her embrace, resting his head on her shoulder. "You're hurting and don't have anywhere else to go, that's enough."

It shouldn't have been enough for him, but the fact she had taken him in and offered him a place to stay made her feel like home.

He wasn't quite sure what to do with that. "Okay. Tell me more about the Dust Bunny?"

She shifted a little and started talking again, telling him about the early days of running a Dust shop and a small mishap with one shipment that caused a rather nasty crack in the street.

They ended up falling asleep like that, sitting on the couch next to one another.

* * *

Fox couldn't bring himself to leave the next morning when Yatsuhashi came in and nudged them both awake, offering coffee and breakfast.

"I'll go start getting the shop open, Vel. Just come down when you're ready," he said before making his way downstairs.

Velvet gave him a nudge. "What do you take in your coffee?"

"Just sugar, thanks." He felt around the edge of the table until he found a chair, settling into it as she put a hot cup of coffee into his hand.

"Let me know if that's enough. We've also got tea, milk, juice..."

"Velvet?"

Yatsuhashi's voice rumbled up the stairs, making Fox jump a little, sloshing coffee onto himself.

"Yeah, Yatsu?" she called back.

Fox tilted his head as he heard several pairs of footsteps ascend the stairs. "Officers Jade Ward and Onyx Burns had a few more questions about the robbery. I figured it'd be easier for us to chat up here."

"Of course." Fox could hear the tremble in her voice. "Would you like coffee?" she offered, sitting next to him when they declined. Yatsuhashi stood behind them while the officers settled in across from them. "What can we help you with?"

"We just needed to clarify a few things from the reports. Just you and Mr. Daichi work at the shop?"

"That's right."

"And you are...?"

Fox sat up straight. "Fox Alistair. I'm..." he wasn't sure how to explain it.

"He's just our friend who stayed the night. He doesn't work for the shop," Yatsuhashi finished smoothly.

"Of course." There was a slight pause. "Do I know you from somewhere?" one of the officers asked.

"Jade?" the other said.

"I don't think so," Fox said, tightening his grip on the coffee mug. He didn't recognize either of their voices, so he wasn't sure where he would have known Jade from.

"The robbery?" Velvet gently prompted.

"Right of course, apologies. We just had a few questions. Your shop was one of the first hit and now that it's become an epidemic, we're asking different questions."

"Of course, whatever you need."

"Looking at the records, you didn't have much stolen," Onyx said, shuffling papers. "Some loose Dust, premade mixes. No large crystals or specialty mixes. Could you elaborate on that?"

"We were hit after hours. We always bring the more valuable stuff up here at night for safe keeping. This isn't the first break-in we've experienced. It was also the day before we resupplied so we didn't have a lot on hand."

"Of course. And the mixes?"

"Neither Yatsu nor I are licensed mixers. We're just a small two-person operation." He could feel her leg bounce up and down next to him.

"Of course. And have you seen any unusual activity around?"

"In what way?"

"Well, to be blunt, any signs of White Fang activity? Secret meetings, abandoned buildings getting a lot more attention than usual..."

Velvet went still. It was a thinly veiled question of if there had been an increase of Faunus activity around. "No," she said, voice steady. "Nothing of the sort."

"All right. Well, we'll leave you our cards. Contact us right away if you see anything suspicious."

There was a scraping of chairs against the tile and Yatsuhashi saw them out.

"Fuck," Velvet whispered as soon as they were alone. She slumped back into her chair and a dull thud shortly followed - presumably her head hitting the table. "They think we're White Fang."

Fox paused mid-sip. "But you're not."

"No... but business is slow enough when you don't have a licensed mixer on staff. Add that to the higher prices because we don't source from Schnee Dust and business isn't exactly booming. If we started to chase out everyone we suspected was a member of the White Fang we wouldn't have any customers."

"I'm actually a licensed mixer," Fox offered tentatively. The licenses were so you could legally mix Dust for sale - it essentially was a promise you knew enough you _probably_ weren't going to blow the roof off a shop. "I don't have my card anymore, but it should still be an active listing. If that would help."

"It's not going to change my stance on the Faunus that come through my shop, but yeah. Let's take a look. Fox Alistair, right?"

He ducked his head. "Yeah."

She poked at her scroll for a bit and Yatsuhashi made his way back up. "Velvet."

"Yeah, Yatsu?"

"It's not good. They asked me if there were any signs of the White Fang around when you weren't there."

"Great." She sighed. "But I'm not changing the way we operate."

"Just be careful, please?"

* * *

To be fair, Velvet was always careful, trying to avoid conflict when she could. She had dodged the officers' questions about Faunus activity because truth was there always were some around. Did she have her suspicions? Of course. But in the end, they were the ones who had her back when the _humans_ boxed her into a corner.

This time they weren't quite quick enough - her assailants had cut through her aura before help came - leaving her with a bruised cheek, a cut shoulder and a limp.

She made her way back into the apartment, praying Yatsu would still be out until she had time to clean up.

Easing the door open, she heard a call of, "Velvet, are you okay?"

She froze when Fox spoke, mentally cursing at herself. He'd settled into their lives almost like he'd always been there, helping out in the shop and sleeping in the third room, but she hadn't factored in his presence when she was coming up with her plan to avoid Yatsuhashi.

"Just got into a tussle downstairs." She added a hasty "I'm fine" but it was too late, he was already on his feet and coming to check on her.

"Bullshit," he said, hand unerringly finding the cut on her shoulder, making her hiss in pain. "I can feel where your aura's flaring up." Fox pulled his hand away, a smear of her blood across his fingers. He furrowed his brow, running his thumb through it. "Yours?"

"Yeah." She took his hand, pulling him into the bathroom behind her. "I'm fine. Just going to wash up. It'll heal before Yatsuhashi's home."

"Velvet..."

There was something strained in the way he spoke, a hesitation that wasn't there a moment before, running his fingers through the blood on his hand again and again.

"I don't like worrying him every time something like this happens," she added, pulling out a washcloth and cleaning Fox's hand first.

"That's how... it started for me. Being jumped, assaulted... several times before they kidnapped me." He took a deep breath. "And I couldn't tell... I couldn't tell my human friends either."

Velvet wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. "It's not that I can't tell him. I just don't want him to worry. We have some..." she wasn't sure how to tell him about the White Fang members that fiercely protected the shop when the police refused to. "Protection from a few local Faunus who keep an eye on the place. They helped out."

Fox wrapped one arm around her and ran his fingers through her hair. "It might have gone differently if I'd told her."

"I'll tell him," she promised. "I do want to get clean up first though. I don't think the bruise will go down before he gets home anyway."

His hand moved to her cheek, thumb tracing the bruise under her eye. "The White Fang helped?" he asked, reading between the lines. He didn't sound surprised.

Velvet nodded against his hand. "They like our shop. We've never discriminated." She turned her back out of habit and shrugged out of her shirt. "They make sure I get home safe and Yatsu chases off the bigots when he sees them." She pressed the cloth to the cut and set her shirt to soak in the sink. "They're not all bad."

"But they robbed your shop too, didn't they, when they were hitting them?"

She wrapped a small bandage around the cut. "They hit us too. But it was weird. They hit the day before a shipment, after hours. I mean, yeah, they cleaned us out, but there wasn't much left to steal, especially because we haul all the valuable stuff upstairs every night, then they never came back."

Fox trailed after her as she went to get a new shirt. "So, what, they hit you to divert suspicion?"

"As far as we can tell, that's exactly it. We lost some lien when the insurance didn't pay out in full, but in the end it was still better than the police poking around - not that they didn't anyway since our claim was low. But the White Fang is still better protection than the police, so I'll take it."

"Just don't be stupid about it please," Fox asked as she pulled a new shirt on.

"Of course not." She stepped in and gave him a hug. "But I trust them more than the police, so I'm not about to chase them off, not unless I have reason to."

* * *

The weeks bled into months and he began to feel safe again. This was his home, this was where he worked, and nothing was going to take that away. The feeling of safety ended up being a double-edged sword though. The safer he felt, the more deeply he slept - and more often than not the dreams that came were riddled with nightmares.

Pacing the apartment was marginally better, if only for the fact that he never disturbed anyone with the pacing.

Most nights he could snap himself out of the nightmare, dragging himself back to consciousness before he screamed and woke anyone else up. This wasn't one of those nights.

He was woken to Velvet gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey, you're safe. You're safe," she was saying.

"I'm sorry," he croaked, reaching out for her. He hated waking her up, but her presence calmed his nerves much faster than when he was left to his own devices after jarring himself awake.

"I'm right here." She caught his hand between hers. "I'm fine."

The nightmare lingered at the edges of consciousness and he pulled his hand free to cup her face. "They had you."

"I'm fine, I promise," she said, nuzzling against his hand before taking it and letting him feel her ears. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, already half asleep again. As much as he hated to know that he'd woken her up, he tended to sleep better after. "Stay?" he mumbled, grabbing her hand again, too tired to have a filter.

"Okay," she said, crawling into bed. After a moment of hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him and fell asleep, both of them drifting into a dreamless rest.

* * *

Velvet woke up far warmer than she usually did, and with a body pressed up against hers. She instinctively snuggled in closer, drawing on the warmth of Fox's skin. It took her a long moment to draw up the courage to open her eyes and look at him.

Fox was still asleep and he looked at peace. She couldn't help but lean in and press a kiss to his forehead, causing him to mutter and pull her closer.

 _Oh Fox, what am I going to do with you?_ she thought, worming one hand out from under the covers to gently play with his hair - attempting to tame it into some manner of order.

"Never did lay flat," he mumbled, nuzzling her neck. "Even when I had it short."

"Doesn't look like it'd cooperate no matter what," she said, still attempting to tame the unruly locks. "Did you sleep well?"

"Better," he said, loosening his grip a bit. "Work?"

"It's Monday," she reminded him, smiling when his arms tightened around her waist. "Don't have to go anywhere."

This time his quiet request of "Stay?" was accompanied by a shy kiss to her cheek.

"For as long as you want," she promised, laying an equally hesitant kiss to the corner of his lips, just barely brushing the scar.

"Might want to keep you here a while," he muttered, turning his head so that their lips were a hair's breadth apart.

"Might not get me to leave," she said, closing the distance.

It was a sweet, chaste kiss to start, mindful of their morning breath. Velvet's lips were a little dry and Fox's were scarred beyond the obvious one, but it was no less perfect.

When they parted, she kissed his cheek, never quite losing the smile, and moved closer, causing his arms to wrap more tightly around her.

"Good?"

"Perfect, Fox. Absolutely perfect."

Eventually they had to get up and face the day. Fox went for a shower and Velvet wandered into the kitchen for breakfast, where Yatsuhashi was standing, smirking.

"Not a word," she hissed, cheeks flushing. "Not a word."

"I said nothing," he said, but leaned down to give her a hug. "But I'm happy for you."

* * *

"Today was the third day of testimony in the high-profile case of the Faunus Rights Coalition vs. Adel Enterprises. The FRC called Coco Adel, daughter of the CEO and founder of Adel Enterprises, Roan Adel to the stand. Her emotional testimony about her time at Adel Enterprises brought several on the jury to tears."

Fox set the mix he was working on down, tilting his head as he listened to the news. The voice that cut in was achingly familiar.

"In the board meetings other members were up front about wanting to use Faunus workers to save money on payroll, even though we weren't reducing the headcount. Human resources pointed out that Faunus could start at a lower salary and would be less likely to organize for bargaining. The board members and management would single Faunus out for low-skilled positions with human managers."

"And so that's when you left Adel?"

Her shaky breath was audible even through the TV. "I tried to change policy - a lot of the times I was the only one voting against these measures. It started to prove futile. It wasn't long after that - but my reasons were unrelated."

"I hate to press, but would you please elaborate on your reasons?"

"I had a friend, Fox. He'd been encouraging me, helping me understand what it was like for him. Then he went missing, and I gave up. I realized you couldn't fix a system from the inside when it was rotten to the core."

The feed cut back to the reporter. "The defense attorneys attempted to take advantage of the clearly emotional state Ms. Adel was left in, however..."

He tuned it out, though, drawing his knees up to his chest. Coco had left Adel? _Months_ ago?

The TV clicked off. "Are you okay?" Velvet's hands rested on his shoulders, massaging gently. "Lost in your thoughts?"

"Coco left Adel Enterprises?" He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "I don't understand."

"Let me look." She came around the couch, settling down next to him, her leg pressed up against his. "Looks like she abruptly resigned… about six months back, citing 'personal reasons,' or so the official press release said. Hmm. A week later a tabloid published two stories - one that her parents had redone their will - disowning her. Two days later another on… oh."

"Oh?"

Velvet wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Another about her attempts to find her missing friend - it includes a photo of her with your missing person posters."

He pulled away to pace around the room. "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?"

He gestured at the top of his head. "They said they were doing it to… force some deal with Schnee Dust Company, but according to the news… she left within days of me going missing - _before_ the deal went through." He couldn't keep his voice steady. " _They_ told me it worked, that _she_ didn't care about Faunus any more. And then I heard that Adel and Schnee were partners - I didn't look closer." He clenched his fists. "I believed them and I didn't - I didn't go back to her. I _let_ them drive me away."

Velvet stood and touched his arm, then pulled him into a tight hug when he didn't pull away. "You didn't let them do anything, Fox. This wasn't your fault."

"She was my best friend," he whispered into her neck. It felt like a confession - but if that was his sin, what more did he owe for absolution?

"We still have her number, if you want."

But Fox shook his head, tensing. "No, I'm not ready. I can't…"

"Okay, it's okay." Her grip tightened. "Whenever you're ready, or never. It's up to you. I just wanted you to know we had her information still."

He nodded and relaxed. "Thank you." He managed to pull back and rest his forehead against hers. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Velvet promised, giving him a quick kiss, nothing more than a reassuring brush of lips.

It took another three days for the news to break about the case - not that Velvet was following the news closely for updates on it.

"They settled!" Velvet said, throwing the door open to the apartment, nearly startling Fox into spilling some of the Dust he was carefully measuring out.

"Who settled?"

"Adel and the Faunus Rights Commission. They settled! Terms not disclosed," she muttered, flipping through the story. "There was a media blackout after Coco testified, but I wasn't expecting this."

"Must have thought they'd lose. Coco's not one to back down from a fight." He carefully set his tools aside and reached for her. "It'll be good. I'm sure they would have settled for something good."

Velvet nodded and he held her closer. "Do you want to call her?" she asked.

"Not yet," he said, thinking of the half-finished Dust mix in front of him. It was a custom mix he'd made for her some time ago and was working on recreating from memory. "Not yet."


	2. Epilogue

It hadn't been easy finding an independent Dust shop in Vale - and her insistence that the shop not discriminate against Faunus made it more difficult. Add in the fact she needed a custom Dust mix made and there was only one place for her to go.

Coco remembered the Dust Bunny from when she'd been going around with missing person posters. It felt right to come back, even though it felt like she was giving up.

She clutched the almost-empty container of Dust tightly in one hand - a custom mix from Fox for her clothing designs - when she noticed the posters weren't hanging up any more.

_I'm not giving up on you, Fox,_ she promised herself as she approached the rabbit Faunus behind the counter.

"Hi, welcome to the Dust Bunny! How can I…" Her eyes widened, hand coming up to cover her mouth.

Coco managed to keep the smile. She'd become a bit of a celebrity after the testimony had aired and she was getting used to the mixed reactions.

Anger wasn't uncommon - nor was suspicion (not that she could blame them for either).

But the Faunus behind the counter didn't look angry, just startled. "How can I help you?" she managed to finish with a slightly strained smile.

"I was hoping to talk to someone about a custom Dust mix?"

"Let me go see if someone's available to talk to you about that. Wait here a moment?"

"Of course," Coco said with a smile of her own.

The woman all but fled into the back, and Coco's smile faded as soon as the Faunus wasn't in sight. Maybe she should just go - maybe she wasn't welcome here.

But she hadn't been asked to leave and so she stayed, even when the wait dragged on - almost as if she'd been forgotten. It'd happened before, when they didn't want to say no to her face but didn't want her there.

Just as she was going to leave, the Faunus woman came back, not even bothering to fake a smile anymore. "Coco? There's something you should know."

"I'm sorry?" she asked, tensing.

The other woman shook her head. "I'm going about this all wrong, I'm sorry. My name is Velvet. It's nice to meet you finally. I, um. You have a friend, Fox?"

Coco nodded, saying the first thing to come to mind. "You had missing person posters up... a while ago." She couldn't quite put a finger on the timeline anymore.

"We took them down… seven months ago, give or take." Velvet looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly before meeting her eyes. "When I found him."

Her knees almost buckled at the admission. "You found him? Where? Why didn't you call? Where is he?"

"He was in the alley behind the store. He's in the break room now, probably pacing a hole in the floor. Why didn't we call?" She scuffed a foot against the ground. "The short answer is he asked us not to."

Coco caught herself on the counter before she fell over. "What?" It was a tiny squeak of a sound.

Velvet reached over and put her hand on Coco's. "There's a much longer answer, of course. I know… more of it. I don't know if he's ever going to be willing to share it all." Velvet picked up Coco's hand and pressed her scroll into it. "Take a moment, breathe, and then open that. I think you'll understand… some of it then."

He'd been missing for nine months - seven or so he'd spent here. Two were left unaccounted for - something bad enough that he'd run and hid as soon as he could rather than coming to her. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what had fractured their friendship so deeply, but she wanted to see him again - if only to apologize.

She opened the scroll.

It was a cute photo of him and Velvet on the beach, foreheads pressed together and laughing at something. She could see the small scar over his lips from before, which drew her attention down, across his arms and side, which were now covered in a myriad of them.

Then - and only then - did she process what was missing - how his hair was artfully tousled so you didn't notice that he once had fox ears, how his swimsuit sat higher on his waist than he had ever worn it before - belying the fact that he had ever had a tail.

She looked up at Velvet, unable to find her words and Velvet pulled the scroll out of her limp hand.

"Is he…" She wasn't sure how to finish the question. "When?"

"Before I met him."

Coco wiped away the tears that had welled up. "Who?"

But Velvet shook her head. "Not my story to tell."

Coco thought back to what had happened before he left. The fights, the muggings, the assaults - because of her. She wondered if this was more of the same.

"Does he want to see me? Does he know you're telling me this?"

Velvet smiled. "Yes, to both. He panicked a little when I told him you were here, but he's been talking about calling you."

She wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready, but she took a deep breath anyway.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

She was waved around the counter to a back room - simply furnished with a table and chairs. Fox was standing in the middle of the room, facing the door when it opened.

She wanted to rush into the room and pull Fox into a tight hug and never let him go but she forced herself to stand in the doorway instead. Any further and she'd break. "Hey Fox," she managed, wincing as she heard her voice crack. Maybe she should just go. He was alive - that's really all she wanted to know, right? He could have reached out to her at any time and he hadn't. But it was taking all her effort not to rush forward - leaving wasn't an option.

His hand opened and closed, grabbing for a tail that was no longer there. "Hey Coco. Long time no see."

She froze and stared at him for a long moment, jaw hanging slack. "Really?" she sputtered out eventually. "Really, Fox, that bad pun?"

He smiled, ducking his head.

Coco couldn't stop herself - she crossed the room in two strides and threw her arms around him. "Fox," she whispered, "you're alive. I'm sorry."

He jumped a little and then wrapped his arms around her in turn. "Yeah, Coco. I'm here. It's okay. It'll be okay. I'm sorry too."

Yeah, they were going to have to talk about this. There were things that needed to be said about what had happened in the last nine months.

But for right now, they were back together and that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to [StVincent](http://archiveofourown.org/users/StVincent/pseuds/StVincent), [DubiousPhysics](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DubiousPhysics/pseuds/DubiousPhysics) and Lunireal, for the amazing beta, moral support, brainstorming and generally putting up with my perpetual accidentally of words. 
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr.](http://www.marykay91.tumblr.com)


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